How much time to allot for first timers @ Disneyland & Universal Hollywood

[ErinsMommy]

Those 2 areas are our main priorities but would also like to get in some other attractions as well.

 

[VandVsmama]

1 day for USH. 3-4 for Disneyland.

 

[Disney Rose]

It depends on how long you have. Definitely no more than 1 day for Universal. Ideally 5 for Disneyland/DCA but if that would leave you no time for anything else, then 3 days with Maxpass.

 

[ashley0139]

1 day for Universal, 3 days for Disneyland.

 

[Mr Snappy]

1 day for Universal, 3 days for Disneyland.

...also, if you are a fan of Universal in Florida, be prepared to be dissapointed with the California version.

 

[dieumeye]

Those 2 areas are our main priorities but would also like to get in some other attractions as well.

What other attractions are you considering? One thing to consider doing is getting hotels in different areas for different parts of your stay.

Things in LA (and SoCal) are very spread out and with traffic getting from one place to the other can take a long time. For example, travel time between Disneyland and Universal can be 35-40 minutes without traffic... 90+ minutes with traffic... and over two hours if there's a traffic accident. So it's something to take into consideration when calculating how many days are necessary.

 

[Becca1007]

Those 2 areas are our main priorities but would also like to get in some other attractions as well.

What are the ages of the traveling party? I ask because Universal is not very little kid friendly in my opinion.

 

[VandVsmama]

How many days in total are you thinking of for your southern CA trip? What other places are you thinking of visiting?

 

[ErinsMommy]

Thank you all. We're not taking or renting a car, so we'll really be dependent on uber/lyft and whatever "attractions" are on the Disneyland page or local enough that we can go there and back the same day (not interested in checking-in/checking-out of various hotels). We like to settle in at one place and just uber/lyft our way through.

We're planning to fly out early a.m. on 10/30/20 and back home late evening of 11/7/20 (coming from NJ). Family of 3 and daughter will be 13, but closer to 14 (December) and she's a thrill junkie so "touring" to see the sights won't be on top of her list as she'll bore quickly, but as long as the "touring" doesn't take up the bulk of our trip, she'll be ok.

These are things that came across as interesting to us other than Disneyland and Universal (no interest in the Zoo, Aquarium, SeaWorld or Knotts Berry unless there's something that's a really must do/see that I'm not aware of) but I don't know what I'm missing or if these are just waste of time so any input is greatly appreciated!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...Beaches_from_Anaheim_and_LA-Anaheim_Cali.html (or something similar)

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...hes_Tour_from_Anaheim-Anaheim_California.html (or something similar)

 

[ErinsMommy]

What are the ages of the traveling party? I ask because Universal is not very little kid friendly in my opinion.

She'll be 13, but closer to 14

 

[bumbershoot]

Our first time at USH we enjoyed visiting twice.

if you are a fan of Universal in Florida, be prepared to be dissapointed with the California version.

I’m a fan of Florida, and quite like Hollywood. Now need to prepare to be disappointed. Just know about the park you’re going to and forget about the other park.

Hollywood has a feeling that’s indescribable, and is just cool, IMO. My teen son agrees.

We're not taking or renting a car, so we'll really be dependent on uber/lyft

Please look at the distances between places.

she's a thrill junkie so ..... no interest in ... Knotts Berry unless there's something that's a really must do/see that I'm not aware of

Doesn’t KB have some big coasters that a thrill junkie might enjoy? Assuming she’s tall enough. (My son is a ballet dancer so I’ve gotten used to the very short ballerinas he’s friends with lol)

FYI universal doesn’t have any big coasters.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Doesn’t KB have some big coasters that a thrill junkie might enjoy? Assuming she’s tall enough. (My son is a ballet dancer so I’ve gotten used to the very short ballerinas he’s friends with lol)

Yes but I think with KB and DL, she'll get her thrill at DL and we'll call it a day there. Plus we have Dorney Park here and it looks VERY similiar in size and ride wise like KB so I'm trying to aim for more SoCal geared that you can't see/do here on the east coast. Thinking Cali will likely be a one and done as we have SO many other places we want to go and see.

 

[Geemo]

Those 2 areas are our main priorities but would also like to get in some other attractions as well.

I just did these two parks with my grandkids (15 & 17). Nov 29 through Dec 5th.
We flew PDX to BUR to start the trip. I have learned to always end a trip at DLR. For the trip home we flew from SNA to PDX.

I bought the two day tickets for USH through Get Away Today and saved. USH's hours were 9am to 10pm the two days we went (Nov 29&30). We pretty much accomplished everything in the first day. The second day we started at park opening and the kids were ready to leave and head to DLR about noon.

I do consider USH a one-day park but it was the first time I had taken these grandkids to USH. And with the Thanksgiving holiday I expected it to take two days.

If you can go with a 5-Day Hopper for Disneyland. MaxPass if in the budget will help hit many of the big rides and avoid lines.
If it is not in the budget for all get it for at least one ticket each day for the Photo Pass benefit of MP.

Geemo

 

[sjmac42]

I’d stay in Anaheim close to Disneyland if you don’t want to move hotels and rideshare to USH.
3 days for Disneyland/DCA and 1 for USH is fine for a first visit.
If you go into LA more than once, you may regret not moving hotels with LA traffic.
Knotts is a great park close to Disneyland with some big thrill rides but it’s up to you if you visit or not.
Anaheim Tour Company is a good operator. Been a few years since I used them but they continue to get good reviews.
All the best

 

[disneylover102]

1 day max for Universal. 3 days minimum for Disneyland (4 or 5 is even better).

 

[theluckyrabbit]

1 day for Universal, 3 days for Disneyland.

...also, if you are a fan of Universal in Florida, be prepared to be dissapointed with the California version.

It's important for people to remember that, unlike USO, USH is a working studio first and foremost. So the studio part takes priority and the theme park comes second. This means that someone expecting to see USO 2.0 might be disappointed. But the cool part is that you might see things going on because of the studio emphasis (e.g. filming going on, celebrities who are at Universal for the day, etc.) that you might not have expected to see. USO and USH are both good, just different -- and people who visit both need to understand that, just like they do with WDW and DLR. Different doesn't automatically mean bad.

 

[coaches24]

USH is definitely one day. We went last summer for two days and the first day was fun but the 2nd day I was ready to go by lunch time. DD loved it and wants to go back. DW and myself would MUCH rather go to DL and if we do go back to USH it would be for only one day.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Thank you all

 

[azdisneylover]

Those 2 areas are our main priorities but would also like to get in some other attractions as well.

I day for US, 4 or 5 for DLR, 1 for Knotts.

 

[Jerryp49]

I would stay in Anaheim and take a tour bus to Universal for one day ,.. Here is a link to one offer...

https://www.taketours.com/anaheim-c...e-admission-and-transportation--958-2411.html